newswire archive

> Please call District Ranger Pam Bode today and ask her for her justification for denying the public the right to access the Illinois River and the Fiddler timber sale area now that logging is finished and the closure is supposed to be lifted. Her cell phone is 659-4661.

Back2thewall leaves for the biscuit today at 06:00 pm from the corner of 38th and Belmont. We camp out tonight in Southern Oregon and participate in a protest/action in Medford followed by an action at the Green bridge.

Join the Oxygen Collective and Back To The WALL (Witness Against Lawless Logging) for an historic convergence of forest lovers from across the state in the Biscuit Fire Area of Southern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains!

Swim in the amazing Illinois River! Witness the Biscuit forest hours after the Forest Service Lockout ends! Use the power of community creativity to tell the Bush bureaucrats what you think!

Biscuit activists need to spread the word of our cause, create a happening to draw folks to help us stop the logging. We also need to raise funds for legal defense. If you are talented, and especially if you can draw an audience in the area, we could use your help.

Video Report: May 16th 2005, more than 75 people gathered on Eight Dollar Mountain road to demonstrate against logging Old Growth reserves at the FIddler timber sale and elsewhere as part of the Biscuit timber sale. Roadless areas are also on the chopping block for the SIskiyou WIld Rivers area, one of the most botanically diverse national forests in the country.

On May 16th 2005, more than 75 people gathered on Eight Dollar Mountain road to demonstrate against logging Old Growth reserves at the FIddler timber sale and elsewhere as part of the Biscuit timber sale. Roadless areas are also on the chopping block for the SIskiyou WIld Rivers area, one of the most botanically diverse national forests in the country.

About 100 people gathered on the corner of Highway 199 and Eight Dollar Road in the Illinois Valley this morning to protest logging at the Biscuit timber sales. The crowd walked a few miles to the closure line and were not met by any law enforcement. The closure blocks public access to the Fiddler timber sale and the famed Babyfoot Lake area.

A group of women crossed the closure line and walked 3 illegal miles of public land to the Green Bridge. Five women locked arms and sat down on the bridge, blocking logging trucks that were carting away Fiddler Mountain Old-Growth. All five were arrested and taken to Josephine County Jail.

Forest Defenders from all across Cascadia are pulling together a smash-tacular party in advance of the 25th Earth First! Round River Rendezvous this summer. A lot's gonna be happening this summer, and we're gonna need just a little seed money to bring our Direct Action fantasies to fruition. So if you've got some money to spare, bring it, and if you don't, but you like anything any of us have ever done, then come celebrate with us at the kickin Alberta Arts Pavilion during the Art Hop this Saturday!

"SISTERS OF THE SISKIYOU" S.O.S.WOMEN'S RESISTANCE TO BISCUIT FOREST DESTRUCTION: PART II

MONDAY, MAY 16 - Women of all ages & demographics: Been wanting to step up? Now's the time!!

With dignity and honor, twenty-two women were arrested last March 14, mostly for sitting down on the 'Green Bridge' over the Wild & Scenic Illinois River: blocking loggersp access to Fiddler Mountain. We captured Americaps imagination for a moment, but alas, logging still persists!! So gals, dust it off and come on down for some serious forest funäand resist the destruction to our last public wild places by the Bush Forest Service. This time, the women will wear green.
[read more about "Part I"] http://rogueimc.org/en/2005/03/4147.shtml

Amber Birmingham was arrested April 18th after unlocking from a 1200 lb. cement-filled barrel blocking the road to logging on the Biscuit timber sale at Fiddler Mountain. She stayed locked in while the Forest Service and County Deputies used a small dolly to precariously move the barrel to the side of the road. This was her second arrest, after she participated in the Women's Blockade of the Green Bridge on March 14th, and the court refuses to release her without bail, which is she refuses to pay. She follows in the footsteps of 74-year-old Joan Norman who has never paid bail in her life, and spent 18 pre-trial days in jail for her second arrest in March.

The Earth First! Round River Rendezvous (RRR) is the annual week-long wilderness gathering of hundreds of folks from around the world dedicated to taking action to protect the Earth. The gathering is named for Aldo Leopold?s Round River; metaphor expressing the ecological interdependence of living systems. The RRR is coordinated by a local volunteer committee and includes workshops, campaign discussions, campfire music and a rally with performers and speakers. Perhaps the most important part of the RRR is the informal networking that goes on. At the end of each RRR, attendees can choose to participate in fun-filled actions supporting local issues.

Right now, the Earth First! Round River Rendezvous Roadshow is trucking up and down spreading the love of defending wilderness. 2005 marks 100 years of the US Forest Service mismanaging our public lands, but it also marks 25 years of Earth First!(EF!) resisting their destruction. To celebrate this Anniversary of Resistance, we'll be showing and EF! History slideshow that will bring you from the first action, through the yesteryears and up to present day. This year is also the 100th years Anniversary of the Industrial Worker's of the World(IWW), who have been at the forefront of the radical labor movement. Their history and how their movement affected the environment will also be covered throughout the roadshow.

William Meyer was nominated and rejected by the Senate Committethe renominated and allowed through Commitee based in an agreement with Bush to not appoint Judges during Recess (evenings, weekend, 15 minute breaks!!) Now it is up to the full Senate to reject Myers. With him on our West Coast 9th Circuit Court our hope for Environmental safeguards and improvements takes a nose dive.HELP STOP THE APPROVAL OF MYERS FOR 9th Circuit COurt Judge

In mid-February, a pdx indymedia videoista spent a week in southern 'Oregon' with the people who are trying to stop the logging of the Biscuit. Over five hours of interviews and forest footage were recorded. A tightly-edited, 29 minute video called "truth & lies of the biscuit fire" is the result, with the electronic music of Ashland artist, Random Rab, serving as its soundtrack.